Sierra View captures Rose Cup squeaker

Once a dominating team in this neighborhood golf rivalry, Sierra View Country Club had drifted into anonymity following its last Rose Cup victory eight years ago. Early Saturday night, the Sierra View golfers were once again looking to walk away without the coveted Rose Cup trophy in their possession. However, a reexamination of one scorecard produced a result that instead had Sierra View rejoicing in victory. Following the original tally, the revision took a half point away from Woodcreek and gave it to Sierra View, creating the closest score in the 23-year history of the Ryder Cup event amongst the four Roseville golf courses and their 12-person teams. Sierra View finished with 49 points and runner-up Woodcreek had 48.5. Timber Creek (45) took third and Diamond Oaks (37.5) was fourth. The victory gave Sierra View its Rose Cup-best eighth overall win, one more than Woodcreek. Sierra View won seven of the first 16 Rose Cup tournaments. "It was quite a comeback," said Sierra View assistant pro Chris Galvin, making light of the adjusted final score. "It was a crazy finish. It's been a while since we won, so it's great to get the cup back." Thanks to a strong showing on its home course in two-man best ball, Sierra View brought a four-point lead into the second round at Diamond Oaks. On a windy day that created difficult conditions, Woodcreek posted the most second-day points (33.5) in singles play to nearly overtake Sierra View. "It stinks that we lost in the closest Rose Cup ever," Woodcreek assistant pro Cody Lindner said. "But Sierra View had two strong days; they deserved it. Playing in the Rose Cup is always an exciting time and is so much fun. It brings the Roseville golfing community together and has one team walking away with bragging rights." Kurt Garcia and Sierra View teammate Gregg Adkins had the best finishes among all 48 golfers, getting the maximum of eight points, four each round. Sierra View's Steve Lee and Mike Baker had seven points, both William Conner and David Evans got six-and-a-half points, and George Conner had six. Sierra View had six of its 12 players earn four points on its home course a week ago Friday afternoon. "Playing that first day on our home course probably helped," Galvin said. "It builds confidence that you take into the second round. I'm from Roseville, so winning this means a lot to me. Our guys all really care. Winning the 23rd annual Rose Cup is very cool for all of us." Playing among the four pros from each course, Lindner had the best finish with seven points. Also collecting seven points for Woodcreek were Evan Hodge and Rose Cup veteran John Murnane. Jeff Yake and Brian Author both had six points. Timber Creek also had a strong second round, piling up 32 points to make a late push to capture its third straight Rose Cup. The back-to-back wins were the first-ever for the Roseville Del Webb community. "We had a poor first day but we battled today and came back hard," Timber Creek head pro Derek Zachman said. Zachman has been recognized as the top Rose Cup golfer the past few years. He struggled a bit on the first day but came back strong with a three-under par 69 to earn four points on the Diamond Oaks track. Tony King and Joey Mastrantonio each had seven points for Timber Creek, while Mark Collins and Terryl Dooley had 5.5 points. Paul Wilson led Diamond Oaks with seven points and Yutaka Shimizu had six. Jeffrey Weidel is a former sports editor and news editor of the Roseville Press-Tribune.